Ice Cube Confronts Bill Maher over Use of a Racial Slur

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher has been facing large amounts of public outrage and backlash following his use of a racial slur while interviewing Nebraskan Senator Ben Sasse.

Maher issued an apology shortly afterward, but invited Ice Cube on his show Friday night (June 9), as Cube has been an outspoken critic about the incident. The rapper started off complimenting Maher on his show, but said he does tell a lot of “black jokes.”

“Sometimes you sound like a redneck trucker,” Cube said. He went on to say that he had two main questions for the comedian, the first being what made Maher think it was okay to use the n-word.

“I accept your apology, but I still think we need to get to the root of the psyche. Because I think there’s a lot of guys out there who cross the line because they’re too familiar or they think they’re too familiar,” Cube said. “It’s a word that has been used against us. It’s like a knife. And you can use it as a weapon or you can use it as a tool… That’s our word now and you can’t have it back.”